Introduction/ Statement of topic
My research project is based around the writing of Disney movies ad their effect on audience members. More specifically I am interested in understanding how Disney influences children. I hope to gain and understanding of what lessons are taught to children as they watch Disney movies and how these lessons shape children’s beliefs, opinions, and understanding of the world in which they live in. The big reason for this research assignment is to share with people, specifically teachers and parents how influential the Disney Corporation is in shaping children.
After researching many different articles, journals and books about Disney I have learned that Disney has both good messages and bad messages in their movies. This made me question how these messages impact audience members, especially young children. There are many different questions I have about the lessons Disney incorporates in their movies. My big question is what lessons are Disney movies trying to teach children? I also want to evaluate what other beliefs are being taught in the Disney movies that influence a child in understanding who they are as individuals? I want to identify the big messages that are most obvious to viewers such as the life lessons as well as the ones that are not as obvious to viewers having to do with the way gender roles are portrayed.
Like other movies, television shows and life experiences, Disney movies and their characters influence children. The piece that has inspired my research the most is a piece written by Henry A. Giroux called “Children’s Culture and Disney’s Animated Films”, a chapter from the book; From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Text and Reader, by Stuart Greene. In Giroux’s chapter he refers to Disney movies as “teaching machines” (Greene 567) and evaluates how through movies Disney shapes our understandings of ourselves, gender roles, values, ideals and culture. I plan to use Giroux’s piece as a place to start and expand some of his ideas by researching other perspectives on the topic of Disney’s influence on children.
To share my research and findings I plan to create a web page using the Weebly website to organize my information. I feel that this would be a more suitable way to display my findings as well as a great way to add in details such as images and video clips to support my research rather than a traditional paper. I believe my audience members would also appreciate and understand my evaluation piece more with the extra features of images and video clips.
After researching many different articles, journals and books about Disney I have learned that Disney has both good messages and bad messages in their movies. This made me question how these messages impact audience members, especially young children. There are many different questions I have about the lessons Disney incorporates in their movies. My big question is what lessons are Disney movies trying to teach children? I also want to evaluate what other beliefs are being taught in the Disney movies that influence a child in understanding who they are as individuals? I want to identify the big messages that are most obvious to viewers such as the life lessons as well as the ones that are not as obvious to viewers having to do with the way gender roles are portrayed.
Like other movies, television shows and life experiences, Disney movies and their characters influence children. The piece that has inspired my research the most is a piece written by Henry A. Giroux called “Children’s Culture and Disney’s Animated Films”, a chapter from the book; From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Text and Reader, by Stuart Greene. In Giroux’s chapter he refers to Disney movies as “teaching machines” (Greene 567) and evaluates how through movies Disney shapes our understandings of ourselves, gender roles, values, ideals and culture. I plan to use Giroux’s piece as a place to start and expand some of his ideas by researching other perspectives on the topic of Disney’s influence on children.
To share my research and findings I plan to create a web page using the Weebly website to organize my information. I feel that this would be a more suitable way to display my findings as well as a great way to add in details such as images and video clips to support my research rather than a traditional paper. I believe my audience members would also appreciate and understand my evaluation piece more with the extra features of images and video clips.
Discussion of importance
I have found the topic of Disney movies to interest me because they are a big part of childhood for most kids in America. I grew up watching these movies and most of my friends also loved watching Disney movies. Like kids today my friends and I admired the characters and enjoyed dressing up as well as acting like the characters for fun. We collected figurines, coloring books, clothing, accessories and other products that depicted our favorite Disney characters.
I also found this topic to be interesting because I am an elementary education major and will be teaching kids who are most likely going to be influenced by Disney. As a teacher it is important to understand how children think and what types of things are being taught to children outside of the classroom as well as inside the classroom. Disney is something that can be incorporated into teaching but teachers should have a background on what Disney is teaching children before using it in their lessons. Like all movies Disney movies can influence our values, beliefs, and understanding of ourselves even if we don’t realize it. Through much of my research I have found that the Disney movies do have a great influence on children and impact the way they see themselves as members of society. These movies teach children life lessons and the difference between right and wrong.
The audience I am targeting with this piece includes educators, future educators, parents and future parents. By evaluating them more in-depth I hope my audience gains an understanding of the messages that are relayed to children from watching Disney movies. I hope that adults will also think more about the movies, television shows and factors that shape children’s understanding of themselves and the world in which they live in.
I also found this topic to be interesting because I am an elementary education major and will be teaching kids who are most likely going to be influenced by Disney. As a teacher it is important to understand how children think and what types of things are being taught to children outside of the classroom as well as inside the classroom. Disney is something that can be incorporated into teaching but teachers should have a background on what Disney is teaching children before using it in their lessons. Like all movies Disney movies can influence our values, beliefs, and understanding of ourselves even if we don’t realize it. Through much of my research I have found that the Disney movies do have a great influence on children and impact the way they see themselves as members of society. These movies teach children life lessons and the difference between right and wrong.
The audience I am targeting with this piece includes educators, future educators, parents and future parents. By evaluating them more in-depth I hope my audience gains an understanding of the messages that are relayed to children from watching Disney movies. I hope that adults will also think more about the movies, television shows and factors that shape children’s understanding of themselves and the world in which they live in.
Literature review
The most influential piece of literature I found during my research was the Henry A. Giroux chapter called “Children’s Culture and Disney’s Animated Films”, from the book; From Inquiry to Academic Writing A Text and Reader, by Stuart Greene. This piece discusses how Disney movies are “teaching machines” (Greene 567) for children. He explains how much the Disney Corporation has influenced our culture and how it shapes our children’s views. Giroux questions the messages that Disney shares with viewers that influence our beliefs, values, gender roles and view of the world. I plan to use Giroux’s findings and opinions to support my evaluation of Disney movies. I plan to use some of his claims to support my own claims and evaluate the lessons that Disney teaches children.
Another piece that I have found to be very helpful in analyzing the lessons taught to Disney’s young followers is by Kay Stone, a writer from The Journal of American Folklore who wrote “Things Walt Disney Never Told Us”. Stone explains in her piece the gender stereotypes that are portrayed in Disney movies. She gives great detailed examples by using characters such as Cinderella and Snow White to support her argument about the way Disney portrays females in their movies. I plan to use Stone’s piece to gain a better understanding of how children’s views of gender roles are influenced by Disney characters.
The article, “Archetypes in Fairy Tales: A Mirror of the American Ethos” by Keith Cork is a piece about how Disney fairy tales reflect American’s culture and ideals. Cork explains that Disney has been successful in America because the Disney fairy tales reflect the values and morals that are important to American’s. He explains that these movies teach children the proper way to act, including ideas such as what is right and what is wrong. I plan to use this piece to explore how Disney movies are reflective pieces of work that help reinforce the values held by American’s. By understanding the values held by American’s I will be able to evaluate how the Disney movies teach children these values in a way that interest them.
The piece, “On Education” by Arthur Schopenhauer explains how children are taught concepts before they can make their own intuitive perceptions. Schopenhauer goes into detail how children are taught what to think from teachers, books and fairytales before they can create their own ideas about the world. Children are influenced by “ready-made ideas” (Schopenhauer 627) instead of creating their own judgments and concepts from personal experiences. I plan to use Schopenhauer’s ideas to explore how Disney plays a role in teaching concepts, or judgments for children to follow instead of letting children create their own meaning of the world through real life experiences. By looking at Disney movies through Schopenhauer’s perspective I will question if we should be allowing Disney movies to shape American children’s thoughts and views.
Another piece that I have found to be very helpful in analyzing the lessons taught to Disney’s young followers is by Kay Stone, a writer from The Journal of American Folklore who wrote “Things Walt Disney Never Told Us”. Stone explains in her piece the gender stereotypes that are portrayed in Disney movies. She gives great detailed examples by using characters such as Cinderella and Snow White to support her argument about the way Disney portrays females in their movies. I plan to use Stone’s piece to gain a better understanding of how children’s views of gender roles are influenced by Disney characters.
The article, “Archetypes in Fairy Tales: A Mirror of the American Ethos” by Keith Cork is a piece about how Disney fairy tales reflect American’s culture and ideals. Cork explains that Disney has been successful in America because the Disney fairy tales reflect the values and morals that are important to American’s. He explains that these movies teach children the proper way to act, including ideas such as what is right and what is wrong. I plan to use this piece to explore how Disney movies are reflective pieces of work that help reinforce the values held by American’s. By understanding the values held by American’s I will be able to evaluate how the Disney movies teach children these values in a way that interest them.
The piece, “On Education” by Arthur Schopenhauer explains how children are taught concepts before they can make their own intuitive perceptions. Schopenhauer goes into detail how children are taught what to think from teachers, books and fairytales before they can create their own ideas about the world. Children are influenced by “ready-made ideas” (Schopenhauer 627) instead of creating their own judgments and concepts from personal experiences. I plan to use Schopenhauer’s ideas to explore how Disney plays a role in teaching concepts, or judgments for children to follow instead of letting children create their own meaning of the world through real life experiences. By looking at Disney movies through Schopenhauer’s perspective I will question if we should be allowing Disney movies to shape American children’s thoughts and views.
Plan for further research
To complete this project I need to find specific examples of the lessons that are being taught to children from watching Disney movies. I also want to find video clips from Disney movies as examples to support my claims. I want to add in images of characters to spark ideas in my audience members about how gender roles are portrayed and defined for children in Disney movies. I would also like to interview teachers and parents to see how they feel Disney influences their children. Through interviews I hope to gain an understanding of what teachers and parents think about the messages being taught to children through Disney movies as well as how these messages influence children’s views of the world.
In the end I want my research project to share with teachers, future teachers, parents and future parents what messages are being taught to children when they watch Disney movies. I also want my audience members to be educated on what is influencing children today to be who they are. I hope that by sharing my findings of the lessons taught to children through Disney that people will see how influential things such as television shows, movies and experiences are in shaping children. I hope that before adults let children view movies, television shows or read books they think about the lessons in these pieces that will influence their children’s actions and beliefs.
In the end I want my research project to share with teachers, future teachers, parents and future parents what messages are being taught to children when they watch Disney movies. I also want my audience members to be educated on what is influencing children today to be who they are. I hope that by sharing my findings of the lessons taught to children through Disney that people will see how influential things such as television shows, movies and experiences are in shaping children. I hope that before adults let children view movies, television shows or read books they think about the lessons in these pieces that will influence their children’s actions and beliefs.